Rod Robinson Wins 2015 BDPA Epsilon Award for Outstanding Technical Contribution

Rod Robinson * ConnXus

National BDPA annually selects and awards the BDPA Epsilon Award to recognize and celebrate key contributions and accomplishments of its members. Nominations are accepted across three categories and they are evaluated by a team of National BDPA members. One of the categories is Outstanding Technical Contribution. This honor is reserved for individuals who have pioneered new or leveraged existing technology to solve a critical industry, business or technical problem.

BDPA is pleased to announce that Rod Robinson has won the 2015 Epsilon Award for Outstanding Technical Contribution. His nomination was submitted by Information Technology manager Feoshia Davis (ConnXus). Feoshia wrote,

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"ConnXus’ Founder and CEO Rod Robinson takes a holistic approach to the supplier diversity arena. By providing a full suite of solutions, this business model acts as a one-stop-shop for corporations looking to find, communicate with, engage and measure their supplier diversity initiatives.

For procurement officers, it’s difficult and expensive to find qualified diverse suppliers. For minority- and women-owned business, it is difficult to make the right corporate connections. And it’s nearly impossible for both groups to find high quality, reliable and forward-thinking technology solutions.

ConnXus is solving those problems through our SaaS-based procurement platform that provides major corporations with a fully integrated supplier-diversity technology solution. The ConnXus platform provides organizations with a turnkey solution for efficiently managing all aspects of their corporate supplier diversity processes. From targeted supplier outreach, validation and data management to spend tracking & reporting. Our scalable platform also matches buyers and qualified suppliers based on profile compatibility.

Our patent-pending software-as-a-service platform TierTracker that allows a ConnXus client to aggregate the diversity spend of identified Prime vendors for the purposes of reporting supply chain activity with diverse vendors."

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BDPA is very proud to honor the works of Rod Robinson! We are glad that he won this 2015 Epsilon Award!

ConnXus CEO Rod Robinson Renews Commitment to BDPA for Another Year

BDPA is proud to learn that ConnXus founder and chief executive officer, Rod Robinson, agreed to renew its corporate support of BDPA in 2013! The focus of the sponsorship will be on corporate memberships -- the company is underwriting the memberships for two (2) company employees and two (2) college students in the greater Cincinnati area.

ConnXus provides a subscription based online service that connects minority- and woman-owned businesses with major corporations seeking to expand their supplier base and meet supplier diversity objectives. This venture-backed company revolutionizes the concept of Supplier Diversity by focusing on aggregating corporate purchasing demand and making it easy and affordable for major corporations to locate, evaluate and engage performance-rated small, minority- or woman-owned businesses across more than 100 categories.

BDPA looks to find ways to introduce ConnXus to both Fortune 100 companies and MWBE-certified small businesses that we count as corporate sponsors. That is the win-win that we look to create for all of our sponsors. If you know of any MWBE-certified business owner in your sphere of influence ... point them to the ConnXus website so that they can get connected to the supplier diversity directory leading to increased revenue opportunities!

For more information on the benefits of BDPA corporate sponsorship, please contact Wayne Hicks by email (corpsales@bdpa.org) or phone (301.584-3135).

BDPA Sponsor ConnXus Partners with National Urban League

ConnXus, a Web-based platform that connects minority- and women-owned businesses with buyers and suppliers looking to meet diversity objectives, announced its partnership with the National Urban League.

In the next year, ConnXus and the National Urban League will host joint events for small minority- and women-owned businesses in the 10 U.S. cities that are home to National Urban League Entrepreneurship Centers.

ConnXus received a $200,000 investment from CincyTech in March as part of a larger seed-stage investment round to expand the management team, build national partnerships and help the company scale. ConnXus was launched by Rob Robinson, above, in 2010 and has since posted $100 million in contract opportunities.

BDPA is proud to note that both ConnXus and CincyTech are corporate sponsors!

Read more about the partnership.

BDPA Cincinnati Shares a Road Map to Success: An Entrepreneur's Story w/ ConnXus CEO Rod Robinson

Our community continues to march into a brave new world. The idea of working for a large employer for 40 years to get the ‘gold watch’ at retirement seems like a nostalgic memory. The influence of entrepreneurs in the marketplace is more prevalent today than ever. Jobs continue to shift overseas and the workforce for Fortune 100 companies continues to shrink. All of these trends position the entrepreneur as a major factor in filling the gaps that now exist in the job market.

BDPA Cincinnati chapter, a nonprofit organization made up of racially diverse information technology professionals who advance the careers of African Americans from the classroom to the boardroom, wants to assist BDPA entrepreneurs with programs that allow them to grown in knowledge and influence.

The education and networking process continues on Thursday, February 16, 2012 at the Procter and Gamble Winton Hills Business Center (6105 Center Hill Drive, Cincinnati 45224), when BDPA shares the entrepreneurial story of ConnXus chief executive officer Rod Robinson. As the founder and managing partner of consulting firm Accell Advisors, Rod has worked with Fortune 100 companies to improve or create strategic sourcing and supplier diversity programs. He previously served as Chief Procurement Officer for Cincinnati Bell, where he drove more than $14 million in annual purchasing cost reductions while increasing spending with minority business enterprises by 42%.

Come hear how Rod has taken his expertise and background in corporate America to create profitable businesses as an entrepreneur. His company, ConnXus, is an online service that seeks to revolutionize supplier diversity by making it easy for minority- and woman-owned businesses to connect with corporations looking for diverse suppliers and offering real contract opportunities. Since launching in December 2010, corporate buyer members have posted more than $75 million in contract opportunities for diverse supplier members on the site.

BDPA Cincinnati chapter president Clarence Larcarte said, “There has never been more of a need for what BDPA offers; an opportunity to acquire the skills, knowledge and relationships that will enable you to prosper in this and any other economic climate.”

BDPA stays on the leading edge from innovations in technology, to influencing how businesses are managed, to mentoring a new generation of "would be" entrepreneurs. The chapter meeting on February 16th is free and open to the public. Please RSVP - http://cincy-2012feb.eventbrite.com/ and you are encouraged to bring colleagues, co-workers or friends with you as well!

For more information you can reach BDPA by email (cincinnati@bdpa.org) or phone (513.956-0636).

ConnXus Provides Opportunity for Black Technology Entrepeneurs to Connect with Corporate Decision-Makers

BDPA Cincinnati chapter president Clarence Larcarte and I had the pleasure of meeting earlier this month with ConnXus CEO Rod Robinson. Rod participated in the showcase at the CincyTech Annual Meeting last month.

You may recall that this blog expressed concern about the dearth of diversity at the event.  However, one of the pleasant discoveries for us was ConnXus (shown in above photo) ... a Black-owned online service that seeks to revolutionize supplier diversity by making it easy for minority- and woman-owned businesses to connect with corporations looking for diverse suppliers and offering real contract opportunities.

Here’s how it works:

• Corporations register as buyer members and indicate in which of the more than 100 product or service categories they have purchasing needs.
• Small, minority- or woman-owned businesses register as supplier members, indicating the product or service categories they provide, as well as creating a company profile highlighting their size, areas of expertise and representative customers.
• Suppliers request performance ratings from prior customers, and just like many consumer-focused websites, more and better ratings translate into better search results.
• Buyers can conduct searches for specific suppliers or post contract opportunities for suppliers to submit bids.

ConnXus co-founder Rod Robinson is a Fortune 1000 procurement expert and supplier diversity who created this company out of his own personal frustration trying to match his clients purchasing needs with diverse businesses who could supply them. Knowing all the ways technology is being leveraged in today’s business environment, he just knew there had to be a better way to connect buyers with diverse suppliers. He partnered with Chris Downie, founder and CEO of America’s #1 diet and fitness site SparkPeople, to develop ConnXus.

Since launching in December 2010, corporate buyer members have posted more than $75 million in contract opportunities for diverse supplier members on the site. All the supplier members who have won new business through ConnXus.com have said that they never would have known about the opportunities without it. Some have even been invited to bid on additional, larger contracts. Registered ConnXus members number close to 1,000, including small, woman- and minority-owned businesses representing hundreds of categories, along with corporate buyers responsible for more than $20 billion in annual spending.


ConnXus recently announced a partnership with LexisNexis to offer their members a discounted price on sales and marketing information and are in the process of developing other partnerships that will offer value to their members.

My hope is that all BDPA entrepreneurs, BDPA business owners and BDPA corporate sponsors will take a hard look at ConnXus. Now is the time for us to leverage our own networks to build our businesses on a local, regional and national basis. The next step is yours -- visit ConnXus and let us know what you think!